


I Worry Over Situations

by Duck_Life



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Drug Use, Episode: s03e10 Fascination, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Post-Episode: s03e10 Fascination, everyone is a little in love with jadzia, implied Garak/Bashir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-16
Updated: 2020-01-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22274959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duck_Life/pseuds/Duck_Life
Summary: Julian and Kira try to mend their already shaky friendship after having made out.
Relationships: Julian Bashir & Kira Nerys
Comments: 3
Kudos: 39





	I Worry Over Situations

Kira’s door chimes, and when she goes to answer it Julian is there. “Major,” he says, his shoulders stiffer than usual. 

“Doctor,” she replies with a curt nod. “Can I help you?” At any rate, they’re going to have to start acting a little more normal around each other before their shifts begin in the morning. Julian’s treatment seems to have alleviated Mrs. Troi’s Zanthi fever— and, with it, everyone else’s “symptoms”— but the lingering embarrassment remains. 

It’s then that she notices Julian’s holding some kind of parcel. He holds it out, looking more like a survivor trying to placate a wild animal than a friend offering a gift. “I just wanted to give you this,” he says, “and to apologize profusely for my uncontrollable behavior last night.” 

“Likewise,” Kira says, taking the gift. “The last thing I want is for things to be awkward between us, Julian.”

“Couldn’t agree more, Kira.” 

She opens the parcel to reveal… a loaf of bread. Kira stares at it. “Okay,” she says, forehead wrinkling, “is this a human thing I’m not supposed to understand?” 

“At first I thought I would bring flowers,” Julian stammers, “or perhaps chocolates, but both of those suggested a, well, romantic context and I thought we should try and steer as far away from that as possible to avoid any further awkwardness, so… bread.” 

“Well… thanks,” she says, stepping away from the doorway. “Here, why don’t you come on in?”

Julian hesitates. “Major… your face appears a bit flushed, and your pupils are dilated… I’m afraid you might still be experiencing the effects of the Zanthi fever—”

“What? Oh,” she says, looking suddenly sheepish. “No, don’t worry, it’s not the fever. It’s, ah,  _ Bareil’s _ apology gift.” She steps to the side so Julian can see the ornate hookah on the table behind her, tendrils of purple smoke drifting lazily up from it. 

“Well,” Julian says, “it’s a good thing he and I didn’t  _ both _ get you bread.”

“A very good thing,” Kira agrees. “Come on in,” she says again, “we can share the bread. And the Bajoran k’annabid.”

* * *

Julian exhales, letting a puff of purple smoke obscure his face before floating upward. “Oh, that’s… interesting,” he says, sounding a little dazed. Kira laughs. “Thanks again, Major.”

She sighs and leans back against the couch. “You know, you didn’t lose Nerys privileges.”

“Hm?”

“Nerys. You can still call me Nerys if you want,” she elaborates. “What happened was awkward, but… it’s only gonna make it more awkward if you suddenly start acting all formal.” 

“You’re probably right,” he sighs. “... Nerys.” 

“Man,” she says, leaning back and fidgeting with the stem of the hookah, “did you see Sisko’s  _ face _ ? He didn’t know  _ what _ the hell was going on.”

Julian giggles, and then looks a little surprised at the sound coming out of his mouth. “He and I were  _ fully _ convinced that Dax was just fucking with him,” Julian says. 

“I wouldn’t put it past her.” Kira breathes in some of the purple smoke, holds it, and then blows it out in a neat ring. “That’s the most infuriating part, she’s not even embarrassed.”

“I’m not sure she gets embarrassed,” he speculates. “I mean… I mean, you know how people get really, really old and they just have no filter? And they, you know, don’t really care anymore? That’s Dax.”

“Oh, that’s totally Dax,” Kira agrees, shaking her head. “She’s just… she’s just like a pervy old grandma. A smart, sexy, inappropriate pervy old grandma.” 

“She’s  _ so _ sexy,” Julian agrees with admiration. Then he blanches and covers his mouth with one hand. “I-I’m sorry, of course, I don’t mean to be some chauvinist, to speak of a fellow officer in such a—” Kira cackles. 

“Relax, Julian,” she says. “Dax is hot. She knows it. We can say it.” 

“Sometimes I just want to brush her hair. Is that weird?”

“No, I get that.” The scent of whatever it is they’re smoking permeates the wrong, musky and sweet. “Not gonna lie. I wouldn’t have minded being in Sisko’s position yesterday.” 

“Yeah,” Julian agrees, blowing air through his lips. He tilts over, drumming his fingertips against his cheekbone. “Or… no, never mind.” 

Kira sits up straighter, eyes bright. “Or what?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

She nudges him with her foot, and then kicks him harder when he doesn’t say anything. “Tell me. Tell me. I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

“Well,” he sighs, “it might have been interesting, you know, if… if Garak had been around during all… that.” 

Kira lights up and starts beating her hands against the arm of the sofa, looking triumphant. “Oh,  _ man _ ,” she laughs, “talk about latent attraction.”

Julian coughs and splutters. “What? You… what do you know?” 

“Oh, I know quite a bit,” Kira teases, blowing a puff of smoke in his face. “And I know that you’ve had it bad for Garak for… like, ages.” 

“I… I’ve… that’s preposterous,” he says, which only makes her laugh harder. “Fine! So… so what if you’re right? It’s not… I’m not  _ obvious _ .”

“Yes you are. So is he,” she says. “Frankly, Dax and I are just waiting to see which of you is gonna make the first move. Dax wants to put money on it.” 

“Does  _ everybody _ know?” 

“Not  _ everybody _ ,” Kira says. “Me, Dax, Keiko, Odo, Quark—”

“ _ Quark _ knows?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Kira goes on. “Yeah, he actually does a very funny impression of you getting measured for a suit. ‘Garak, I think you need to measure the inseam again.’” Julian scowls and Kira buckles over with laughter. 

“Does the Chief know?”

“Oh, of course not, O’Brien doesn’t know anything,” Kira says. “Yesterday he asked me to introduce him to my ‘new friend’ and I had to tell him he’s already met Bareil like five times.” 

“He can be somewhat self-absorbed,” Julian agrees. 

“Wow. Toad calling the beetle horned?” 

He blinks. “... What?”

“You, saying that somebody else is self-absorbed,” Kira elaborates. “That’s like the toad calling the beetle horned.”

“Is that Bajoran?” he asks. “Do you mean the pot calling the kettle black?”

“What? No. That doesn’t make any sense. Kettles can’t talk.”

“And toads can?!” 

Kira bends over the back of the couch, lazily blowing a stream of smoke up into the air. “Shut up, Julian.”

“I’m opening the bread.” 

They pass another few hours just like that, vegging, gossiping, lamenting the fact that Julian is completely enamored with a duplicitous Cardassian tailor who’s almost certainly a spy. At the end of the night, when Julian gets up to head back to his own quarters, Kira tells him, “I’m glad you came to hang out. And— the truth is, you aren’t the most mortifying person I could have kissed under the influence of Mrs. Troi’s Zanthi fever.” 

“Why, Nerys, that was almost a compliment.”

She smiles and says, “Almost.” 


End file.
